Panathinaikos, flying high in this seasons Greek Super League, travel north to Thessaloniki Sunday to take on local side Aris in the match of the round.
Its a tough test for PAO, who have 23 points from nine games, and know that their nearest rivals AEK Athens and Olympiakos both have considerably easier opposition this week, with AEK at home to Kerkyra and Olykpiakos at home to Panaitolikos. In last week’s fixtures PAO defeated OFI 3-1 with Zeca, Cleyton and Sebastian Leto scoring a goal apiece. Zeljko Kalajdzic pulled back one for OFI with a penalty in the 58th minute before Leto sealed the win from the spot in the 75th.
The win kept Panathinaikos on top of the league standings, a point ahead of AEK Athens which won at Panaitolikos 2-0 Saturday. AEK has played two more games than their Athens rival. Defending champion Olympiakos lost 2-0 at Asteras on Sunday for its first defeat of the season but then bounced back on Wednesday to thrash newcomers Doxa Dramas 6-0 and move within two points of PAO, although with a game in hand.
This weekend’s fixtures kick off SaturdayOFI hosting Asteras Tripolis and Atromitos playing Ergotelis and rounds off Sunday with Giannena v PAOK, Drama v Xanthi and Levadiakos v Panionios.
